Posts tagged “reflections”

Thought for the day…” A smile is a curve that sets everything straight”.

“Silence is not always golden”.

Norway has been experiencing some fantastic autumn weather recently, with days of clear blue skies and very clear air. With conditions like these then the camera has been very busy….lots of photos and lots of videos. So expect to see more photos of the autumn colours over the next few days. The first 2 photos today were both taken today (7th October) near the village of Ornes in Norway. Yet another day of perfect clear autumn air. An absolute joy to be out with the camera…….

“The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes” (Winston Churchill).

Time for an upgrade of my camera. The Fuji X-E1 had been producing some fantastic pictures, so I was in no hurry to upgrade, especially as the gains and improvements with a new camera would be small. But upgrade I did and now have the Fuji XT-10. Apart from having a tilting screen (something that I thought was a gimmick before I actually got to find out that sometimes it is very useful), it has a few other new features that I am also finding useful too. Features that I had not had previously such as wifi, remote control and geo-tagging are now available, as well as faster focussing and a viewfinder that is perhaps the clearest that I have ever used. So although I was sad to part with the X-E1, the new camera is already proving to be just as much fun as the older one. It is said that Fujifilm cameras are made by photographers who are also engineers, whereas another famous brand (=brand X) is made by engineers, full stop. Guess which cameras are more fun to use? Having real dials and also menus that you can customize, and a fantastic viewfinder makes all the difference. Photography is fun again !!!

Even if I enjoy taking photos, I will probably (hopefully) not go to this extreme…..an aircraft spotter or very keen photographer seen at an airshow recently…..He was carrying not one but two BIG cameras. The lens on the second camera must have weighed several kilos….

Thought for the day…” Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker? ”

” The cure for insomnia is to get more sleep”. ” If a book about failure does not sell, then is it a success”.

Not the words from one of the hits of the Eagles music group but a peaceful scene from Norway for the photo today. One of the early photos from the Fuji X-E1 camera here, taken whilst I was still trying the camera out. Early morning in the hills of Norway, with some light mist starting to appear over the lake and the first signs of autumn on the trees. Did you know that in the Swedish and Norwegian languages, that there is no word for ‘please’. It always sounds very strange (and impolite) to a non-Scandinavian to simply demand things (eg. give me a coffee.) instead of saying please. Finnish is another language which does not have a direct word for please (although it does have some polite ways to ask for things, such as Saisinko (=can I have). And perhaps because of the long, dark winter and cold winter nights, Norway is number 2 in the world for coffee consumption per capita, around 142 litres (or about 9.5kg of coffee beans) a year for each Norwegian citizen. Finland still tops the list.

Thought for the day…” It is better to be looked over than overlooked” (Mae West). ” Never test the depth of the water with both feet”.

Never understood why some countries make it difficult and expensive for TOURISTS to visit. Tourists bring in money, create jobs and also help to develop a country. Tourism, within reason, is not a bad thing, and countries like New Zealand depend upon it. New Zealand makes it easy for tourists, and gets lots of them. But the bottom line is that tourists bring money into a country. I had details of some good offers on Swiss Airlines (great airline too, so no hesitation in flying with them), including to India. India is another one of those countries which likes to make things difficult for people just wanting to visit as a TOURIST. Not only is there all the hassle of forms, possible interviews and questions which go far beyond reasonable (is it really important what my mother’s maiden name was?), but you also have to pay a large amount of money for the privilege as well. Compare that to many countries where all you need is a valid passport when you arrive. Guess where I am NOT going??

And another photo of Norway in beautiful weather again (of which there has been lots this year). Warm temperatures, no wind and cloudless days…can this be Norway??

and another photo out of the archives…a traditional house bus in New Zealand……

Thought for the day….” Some people are alive only because it is illegal to kill them”.

” The Earth is the insane asylum for the universe”

Another beautiful morning in the hills of Norway for the photo today….clear air and almost no wind…… Did you know that Norway is home to Europe’s highest waterfall (Vinnufosen which falls some 860 m), and also the World’s longest road tunnel (Laerdal Tunnel, at 24.5 km long), and also the deepest road tunnel in the World (Eiksund Tunnel which goes down to 287m below sea level). It is also home to Europe’s deepest lake (Horninsdalsvatnet which goes down to 514m depth) and has the longest coastline in Europe ( 53, 199 km of coast). Norway has also won more winter Olympic medals than any other country in the world. And around 98% of all electricity comes from hydro-electric sources, the highest ratio of any country in the world. There is a fair amount of water visible in this photo of the lake at Geilo……..

and a photo out of the archives…..the old pub in Cardrona, South Island, New Zealand.

Thought for the day ” What the wise do in the beginning, fools do in the end”

” You never know who is swimming naked until the tide goes out” (Warren Buffett).

Having just written about the problems with Cyberphoto and the difficulties in getting money back from them, suddenly, after writing on the internet, the money was repaid. Once again, the internet has shown that it is a powerful tool.

Today’s photos were both taken with the Panasonic FZ-150 camera. The first photo is of leaf cutter ants in Colombia, and the second photo (out of the archives) shows a lake and mountain scene from Norway. You have to look very closely at these photos to see that they were not taken with an expensive DSLR, just a normal ‘bridge’ camera. Leaf-cutter ants form very complex societies and live in underground nests that be up to 30m wide and can go as deep as 6m. The colony is divided into different castes based on size, with different castes carrying out different tasks. The largest ants can be up to 16mm long. They cultivate fungi in their nests, and collect leaves to feed the fungi. Adult ants feed on the leaf sap, and also use the fungus to feed ant larvae. Apart from humans, it is very unusual for any other creatures to cultivate their own food. The ants also operate an efficient waste management system from their nests.

and a photo from the archives…..early morning reflections in Haglebu, Norway………

Thought for the day…” If you want light to come into your life, then you need to be standing where it is shining”.

Early morning (and a perfect morning) in Voss, Norway in the photo today. It is hard not to get wonderful photos on days like these, especially in Norway where there is so much scenery like this. Voss, population about 13 500 people, is a summer and also a winter (ski) resort, and is on the route of the famous ‘Norway in a Nutshell’ Tour. It is on the main Oslo to Bergen rail line, which is in itself a great tourist attraction. Voss also hosts an annual extreme sports week at the end of June each year, including skydiving, and para-bungy. If you take the letters N.O.R.W.A.Y then, according to the tourist board, it stands for No Other Region Will Amaze You. Amazing !

Do not forget to click the ‘like’ button if you like the photo, if not then comments are welcome !

Thought for the day..” Happiness is no laughing matter” ” Give up for a second and that is where you will finish”.

Are you happy? Perhaps, if you are living in Denmark. Interesting to read the 2013 World Happiness Report, which came from the Columbia University’s Earth Institute, and paid for by the UN. Top place goes to DENMARK, second place goes to Norway and third place Switzerland. At the bottom of the list were Benin and also Togo, both in West Africa. All of the countries at the top of the list are expensive places to live, but this does not stop the residents being happy. Suprisingly, high taxes also do not make people unhappy, as in the top countries, the high taxes pay for high standards of public services. And another surprise is that in 8th place is Bhutan, where despite a low GDP per capita (USD 1400), the people are extremely happy. And as for the world’s happiest people, according to the Gallup 2012 survey of about 150 000 people, then the top place goes to Panama, followed by Paraguay.

I was happy with this photo that I took one morning recently in Norway. It took a little bit of planning, and a lot of good luck to get it, but after several attempts, this was the final shot. For those who are interested, it was taken in RAW and then converted into jpeg, using a wide angle setting on the camera (Panasonic Lumix)

Thought for the day…..” Do not talk, unless you can improve the silence”.

“Every day is a gift. That is why they call it the present”.

Two nice stories in the news at the moment to bring a smile. Firstly, the man in the UK who has set up a premium rate telephone line at home so that when he gets cold-callers and advertisers ringing him, then it costs the companies a lot of money and he also gets 70% of the proceeds of the premium rate telephone call. Apparently he is now trying to keep advertisers on the phone as long as possible so that he gets even more money from them whilst they rack up a large bill on the premium rate number. Then there is the other story about Hasan Syed, again in the UK, who paid to have his twitter tweet promoted, advising people not to fly with British Airways because their customer service is horrendous. Normally it is advertisers who pay for promoted tweets, but Mr. Syed was able to use this system to give his complaint against BA huge publicity.

Autumn is well under way in Norway, and there have been some fantastic mornings recently. Out with the camera again, to yet another lake, and more reflections and lake views in the photo today. On the ground are many blueberries and wild mushrooms, and the some of the trees are now yellow and red (not the everygreens of course!). About the only sound when I took the photo were the fish (trout) jumping in the lake. The hunting season is underway now, mainly for elk, although also for deer, reindeer,mink and red foxes. Being Norway, you have to have a license to hunt, and new hunters must undergo a 30 hour training course and then take a test. Luckily, no test and license is needed to take photos like these. I am looking at getting a new camera now (perhaps my 5th Panasonic in a row) but seeing results like these, then there is still a lot of life in the current camera.